Shared Supplier Site Defaults and Payment Terms Override
Global Components Inc. runs Payables in two business units: US Operations and Canada Operations. Supplier Apex Industrial has a supplier-level payment term of Net 60 and two sites. The US site has Net 30; the Canada site has Net 45. A new US site, Apex-US-East, was created for a plant acquisition, but its Payment Terms field was left blank and its Procurement Business Unit was set to Canada Operations. Invoices entered in US Operations for Apex-US-East default to Net 60. The AP manager cannot override the term because Allow Payment Terms Override is disabled in US Payables Options. One invoice for $73,400 dated March 2 is therefore scheduled for May 1 instead of April 1, missing a 2% discount worth $1,468. The supplier also reports that remittance advice goes to the Canada contact. The team wants a fix that does not change Apex's terms for other sites or business units.
1. Why did the invoice default to Net 60, and what exact configuration changes would you make so only Apex-US-East uses Net 30?
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The invoice did not fail randomly. Oracle Payables derives the default payment term from the supplier site first, then the supplier header, then the business-unit default. Apex-US-East has a blank site term, so the supplier-level Net 60 flowed through. The fix is not to change Apex Industrial's header term, because that would affect every site that relies on it. Instead:
- Set the Payment Terms on Apex-US-East to Net 30.
- Confirm the site is active and available to US Operations; correct the Procurement Business Unit only if purchasing transactions also need to be routed to the US unit.
- If AP needs an exception capability, enable Allow Payment Terms Override at the US Payables Options level with an approval control, rather than enabling it blindly.
- Check the US business-unit default payment term so new suppliers do not inherit an unintended term.
This keeps Canada and other Apex sites on their existing terms. The key judgement is to fix the lowest level that should carry the exception, not the shared supplier record.
2. What can AP do for the $73,400 invoice today, and what controls should accompany that action?
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Because override is disabled, the clerk cannot simply change the invoice term. AP should first correct the site term to Net 30, then determine whether the existing invoice will re-default. If it will not, enable override temporarily or for the US business unit, change the invoice to Net 30, revalidate, and confirm the due and discount dates. A cancellation and re-entry after the site fix is cleaner if the invoice is not yet accounted or paid, but it creates a new invoice number and must be coordinated with the supplier.
The control is more important than the keystroke. Enabling override globally lets any user shorten or lengthen terms and can distort cash forecasting. Use an approval workflow or a documented exception log, limit override to a role, and review changed terms. AP should also verify whether the discount date can still be met; if not, do not promise the discount. Finally, confirm that the payment date actually reflects the corrected term before the next payment run.
3. How would you correct the remittance advice routing without affecting other Apex sites?
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Remittance routing is generally driven by the supplier site and its contacts and payment preferences, not by the supplier header alone. I would open Apex-US-East and compare its remittance contact, email, and remittance delivery method with the Canada site. The Canada contact is probably set as the site contact or as the default remittance recipient on the new site because it was copied during creation.
I would update only Apex-US-East with the correct US remittance contact and email, verify the payment method and bank account attached to that site, and run a test payment or remittance advice for a small invoice. I would not change the supplier-level contact unless the supplier explicitly wants a single global contact. After the fix, check the next payment process request output and confirm the advice is addressed to the US site. This isolates the change and avoids disrupting Canada remittances.